In the more recent past, the playerbase seems to be somewhat constant, but for those who have played when the playerbase was ginormous, they can recall how much more fun the game was. So yes, it's easy to be complacent and say this is as good as it gets, but I'd like to think there are ways to return to that prior player count. I also know that for me the player count is the most important factor to having fun in this game. I'm sure there are people who disagree because exploring is an amazing way to pass the time, but to me that's not what makes this game unique.
-thinnie